Adobe release Creative Suite 2 for free – Update

Adobe Creative Suite is the industry standard when it comes to design and publishing. However, the exorbitant cost of the software suite may deter many industry beginners from using it.

Adobe today look to change that by offering the full version of Creative Suite 2 for download, totally free. The suite includes Photoshop CS2, InDesign CS2, Illustrator CS2, Photoshop Elements 5.0, Acrobat Pro 8.0 and Audition 3.0. Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 can also be downloaded.

While this is not the latest version (Adobe are currently up to version 6) and it came out way back in April 2005, by releasing the software for free, Adobe are allowing people to get used to the workflow of their products, with the probability that many will upgrade to the latest version.

Adobe have been looking at various ways to offer the Creative Suite software to users, notably launching their creative cloud last year, which offers the Creative Suite and all updates for a monthly fee.

Turns out Adobe are not actually offering CS2 for free and people who downloaded it without purchasing a license can not use it legally. Nice one Adobe. From PR coup to PR disaster in no time.

“Dov Isaacs said:

On behalf of Adobe Systems Incorporated …

You have heard wrong! Adobe is absolutely not providing free copies of CS2!

What is true is that Adobe is terminating the activation servers for CS2 and that for existing licensed users of CS2 who need to reinstall their software, copies of CS2 that don’t require activation but do require valid serial numbers are available. (Special serial numbers are provided on the page for each product download.) See <http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1114930>.

You are only legally entitled to download and install with that serial number if you have a valid license to the product!